1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to voting booths and, in particular, to portable, modular voting booths that can be easily nested, grouped, stored, and transported.
2. Description of the Background
Voting is one of the most fundamental acts of a democratic society, and the privacy of the voters is paramount for several reasons. First of all, privacy avoids post -election partiality by the winning government. Secondly, privacy ensures that voters are not influenced by the popular vote. For these reasons there are laws to ensure voter privacy, and voting booths to comply with these laws.
A voting booth provides an individual voter with an enclosed area for casting a vote, using a ballot, mechanical, or electronic voting system, at a polling-place facility. This ensures voter anonymity. Voting booths can be permanent against-the-wall enclosures each having a door or curtain. However, given the infrequent nature of elections polling places are seldom single purpose facilities. Most polling-places are temporary facilities—often times schools, halls, and local government offices—that are used for voting on a temporary basis because elections only occur periodically over a short time period. Permanent voting booth installations are not possible in this case, and instead it is necessary to store and transport multiple voting booths between a storage location (during non-election periods) and the polling -place (during elections). Consequently, voting booths are typically free-standing temporary structures having a working surface and privacy panels that obstruct the view of others in the vicinity.
During elections, a polling place will have multiple voting booths to accommodate numerous voters simultaneously. It is a daunting task for local election officials to transport hundreds of voting booths and other voting equipment to their facility every four years, and to deploy them all. Thus, voting booths must be versatile, combining rugged durability with functionality in a self-contained and lightweight form factor. Indeed, modern voting booths must be strong enough to support heavy voting machines. Therefore, any design that makes storage more compact and transport easier without sacrificing durability would be greatly advantageous. There have been previous efforts in this regard.                For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,262 to McClure et al shows a portable voting booth that can be placed into a closed position for storage within a case. The reference has an inclined working surface (FIG. 1; col. 3,11. 40-44); a leg assembly coupled to the working surface (FIG. 1; col. 3,11. 40-43); and a plurality of side panels (FIG. 1.; col. 2,11. 62-65). The reference is designed as a knock-down device which compromises durability.        Petty, U.S. Pat. No. 5,613,448, discloses a nesting desk with a trapezoidal, inclined working surface (FIG. 1; col. 2,1. 2; col. 2,11. 19-26) and a trapezoidal leg assembly fixedly attached to the working surface (FIG. 1; col. 2,11. 16-19; col. 2,11. 50-51). However, the reference is not a portable voting booth and does not disclose privacy panels or a wheeled leg assembly.        Stephens, U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,787, relates to a disposable foldable combination voting booth and speaker's lectern. The reference discloses a working surface (col. 3,11. 22-25); a plurality of panels extending upward from the left, back, and right sides of a working surface (FIG. 2; col. 3,11. 26-29); and a leg assembly (FIG. 1; col. 3,11. 36-38). The reference does not disclose any degree of durability or nestability.        Houston, U.S. Pat. No. 4,484,755, relates to a cart having a basket and wheeled metal chassis that is adapted for use by handicapped persons. The reference discloses a trapezoidal leg assembly having a plurality of casters mounted underneath (FIG. 4; col. 5,11. 53-55; col. 5,11. 33-36). The reference is not a voting booth and does not disclose any privacy or nestability.        Fouchereau et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,067,606, relates to a trolley table having a folding seat. The reference discloses an inclined working surface (FIGS. 2, 5; col. 3,11. 25-30; col. 3,11. 58-60), a trapezoidal leg assembly fixedly attached to the working surface and with a plurality of casters mounted underneath (FIGS. 1, 3; col. 3,11. 3-7; col. 3,11. 62-64; col. 3,11. 6-7). The reference is not a voting booth and does not disclose any privacy or nestability.        Ahmann, U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,731 relates to a collapsible voting booth. The reference discloses an horizontal working surface (FIG. 2, col. 4, 11. 30-40), four outwardly-inclined legs fixedly attached to the working surface (FIG. 2, col. 3,11. 1-17). The reference also discloses a plurality of privacy panels (FIG. 2, col. 3,11. 25-37), but no casters mounted underneath. Again, the reference is designed as a knock-down device which compromises durability.        
In this regard there is a need for a voting booth that is portable, has a high degree mobility, and is lightweight. There is also a need for a nesting voting booth that allows many such booths to be stacked and transported, thereby minimizing storage space and effort.